Who are we? Where are we going?

Story

iDesign partners with universities to build, grow, and support online and blended course and program offerings. We are passionate about serving faculty and designing engaging learner experiences that unlock the potential of instructional technology.

iDesign was created to offer a sustainable and mission-compatible service option for universities interested in online and blended programs. The landscape of higher education is changing rapidly due to the proliferation of instructional technology and growing concern over the value proposition for students. Universities need trusted partners to help them navigate these complex and increasingly competitive waters. The incumbent service model – the bundled revenue share – asked universities to relinquish control and half (or more) of tuition revenue. This model is not sustainable, as it incentivizes scale over student outcomes and institutional mission. iDesign offers an alternative: the unbundled, fee-for-service approach with a focus on serving faculty and students.

It’s in our name, it’s in our DNA, and we believe that great instructional design is critical for developing successful programs. We provide concierge, white-glove instructional design support to our faculty partners, bringing expertise, service, and project structure to bear and ensuring that faculty feel comfortable, informed, and in control throughout the process. We also recognize that instructional design does not occur in a vacuum. Our partners need successful programs not just great courses, so we supplement instructional design with services covering the full program and student lifecycles.

Unbundling those services allows us to take a fully customized approach with every partner. We strive to be an extension of the university team, integrating with faculty and staff in areas where our partners have internal capacity, and filling gaps in other areas. Unbundling also facilitates layering in new services and phasing out old services over time as programs mature and needs evolve.

Fee-for-service pricing enables us to leave intellectual property rights, control, and tuition revenue where they belong – with the university. Our partners choose the program parameters and pace of adoption that is right for them and retain all tuition revenue. Perhaps most importantly, fee-for-service pricing aligns incentives with quality.

Aligned incentives are at the heart of the iDesign story. We believe the revenue share can give rise to moral hazard when university mission deviates from service provider incentives. We believe that offering unbundled, fee-based services centered on instructional design aligns incentives for quality, mutual trust, and long-term value proposition. We believe that aligned incentives are the right foundation for a sustainable, client-funded service company. Based on those beliefs, we built iDesign to serve higher education by trading value for value.